PM contempt: Exercising civil rights not a move against Zardari, says SC

SC observes writing letter concerned with civil rights, questions why was it being taken as move against Zardari.

ISLAMABAD: Resuming the hearing of the contempt case against Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani on Friday, the Supreme Court of Pakistan observed that writing the letter to Swiss authorities was concerned with civil rights and questioned why it was being taken as a move against President Asif Ali Zardari.

The premier’s counsel, Aitzaz Ahsan, continued with his arguments before a seven-member bench headed by Justice Nasirul Mulk. He said that writing a letter to the Swiss authorities will disgrace the president in front of the world.

The bench observed that it was not the Supreme Court that had leveled graft charges against President Asif Ali Zardari, but the Swiss authorities were doing so.

Ahsan said that heads of states do not surrender their sovereignty in front of another country’s magistrate.

The apex court adjourned the hearing till Tuesday, April 24, 2012.

During Thursday's hearing, referring to the six options that the Supreme Court had rolled out before the premier on January 10, Ahsan had said that this was a perfect example of a “pre-trial” and these options were nothing but a conundrum and were like “nuclear bombs, daisy-cutters and carpet bombing”.